The Joe Jackson Interviews

Ray Charles talks about jazz, the black and white divide in music and about blindness. 1993.

After interviewing Leonard Cohen I became an interviewer purely to talk with more of my heroes. Ray Charles was a hero of mine from the time when I was nine-years-old, visiting my grandfather in a nursing home, in Dublin, told to "sit over there and listen to the radio" and was truly electrified when I put on headphones and heard him sing Take These Chains From My Heart.  Roughly a decade later, I climbed up onto a tree to watch Ray sing and play in Central Park - I couldn't afford to go to the gig - and then bought no less than twenty-six of his albums before I cam back to Ireland. A black family, in Brooklyn, who had befriended me, bought me a Ray Charles album I had been forced to leave behind. In other words, his music was always central to my life. That might explain why, before this interview proper begins and I tell Ray about my experience of his song, No Use Crying, I get so emotional.  I loved the man. I love his music. And even though I got less than twenty minutes to talk with him, it was a godsend and I hope part of that comes across in this podcast.  But I do wish Ray hadn't kept calling me "Sir." Brownie McGee, a black man, when I met him, got it more right when he called me, a white guy with a black name, Joe Jackson,  "Boy"!

 

The Sounds of Blackness. 1994. Gary Hines talks about Racism, Music History and Songs That Make Your Soul Fly.

In 1994 Sounds of Blackness got their global breakthrough when they sang with Daryl Hall, the World Cup Theme song, Gloryland, in Giants Stadium in New Jersey.  The Irish football team was playing that night and won. This gave me my cue to do for The Irish Times an interview with Gary Hines, leader of Sounds of Blackness. I loved their latest album, Africa to America: The Journey of the Drum, and the uplifting nature of their music, so the chance to talk with Gary, even over the phone was, well, heaven, to me! But the real blessing came at the end of the interview on a personal level when we had the following exchange. Hines said it could be "on-the-record or off-the-record" but I choose never to use it, until now. What Gary Hyne said to me was one of the finest compliments I had ever received as an interviewer. 

 

Joe Jackson:  I really enjoy talking with you.

Gary Hines: The feeling is mutual. I have done literally thousands of interviews over the past three years with the three albums and this is the most astute  – You get it, I guess, is the point.  That can be off-the-record on-the-record. I'm just telling you that, man-to-man. I can't tell you how impressed I am with your insight, into – Well, your insight, period.

J: Thank you very much. I owe it to a black family in New York who saved me about eighteen years ago when I was down and out.

G: I hear you, man.

J: They became my buddies and I'll play (pay) it back forever, OK?

G: It’s all about just people, isn’t it

J: Isn’t it just?  

 

Amen to that. 

 

 

 

The Cowboy Junkies. The Music That Made Me Want To Make Music. 2004.

As I tell Margo and Micheal Timmins at the start of this unedited master tape, it was a total joy for me to meet both members of The Cowboy Junkies because I had loved their music since near enough the start of their careers as makes no difference. I must have played their album The Caution Hores a thousand times and never tired of a single note! Here, they discuss their love of Elvis, particularly his Sun recording Blue Moon which they not only covered but that helped shaped the sound of the band's music. And they discuss their other early influences such as Neil Young and Leonard Cohen - the show is a celebration fo Canada and I am uploading it for my listeners there, in particular - and their own music up as far as 2004. We had a blast and I hope that joy comes across to anyone listening to this podcast. The tape was recorded in a hotel room in Dublin. 

Alan Parker talks about his life, politics, Midnight Express, Mississippi Burning and The Commitments. 1991.

Alan Parker died today, July 31st, 2020. I wanted to mark his passing and celebrate his art. That said, I hadn't heard since 1991, this taped interview we did. I was very pleased to hear him say that ours was "the most intelligent interview" he did in Ireland, though it is all relative, of course. Either way, he said that in response to my saying "there is a wonderful undercurrent of aggression here," or words to that effect. And there was. Because as much as I loved and love, Parker's films and side with his politics, I had some critical questions to ask about Midnight Express, Mississippi Burning, and above all The Commitments, which was newly-released at the time. But in terms of the latter Parker knew I was coming at this from the perspective of someone who comes from the Dublin working-class depicted in that film. What Parker did not know, however, was that I was known to be highly critical of Roddy Doyle, as I say in the podcast intro which I recorded today. I could have uploaded just Parker and myself discussing The Commitments. That would have broad popular appeal in Ireland. But to do so would have been a travesty of the entire spectrum of the man's art, and of his memory. So, instead, this is the original tape unedited. Alan Parker R.I.P 

Elvis Costello. The Music That Made Me Want To Make Music. 2002.

This is the master tape of a radio interview I did with Costello in 2002 to mark the release of his album When I Was Cruel. During the show, you can hear that I was fazed somewhat by addressing the man as "Elvis!" But, we did talk about why he took Presley's name. Not only that, for the only time I am aware of Costello gave his opinion of the artistry of Elvis Presley.  He also discusses his early love of Motown, The Mamas and Papas, Small Faces and finally, of course,  his latest album. This is a must, as they say, for all fans of Costello. 

Christy Moore. The Music That Made Me Want To Make Music. 2000.

This is, in effect, a private concert by Christy Moore, complete with Christy singing along with Paul Anka, Elvis, and Mountain. In 2000, when we recorded this show Christy had not performed in public in any sense, let alone for a full hour on radio, since a recent nervous breakdown. This programme proves, if proof be needed, that music can shake the shadows from his soul. I know the show had a similar effect on me and on many listeners. I hope it does the same thing for you. 

Introducing The Corrs. 1998

That title is deceptive. Years before I did this interview with all members of The Corrs, I had interviewed Andrea Corr, twice, once over the phone for 'The Joe Jackson Interview' slot in The Irish Times - their "first serious interview" Andrea later claimed - and once for Hot Press magazine. Each was my more customary in-depth interview. However, this was more of a chat, meant primarily to "introduce The Corrs to newspaper readers in the UK," which is what the commissioning editor of the Daily Mail said to me. The interview was designed purely to serve that purpose and much of what we said was not published. However, I did use some sections when The Buzz magazine also commissioned me to "do a piece about The Corrs." Incidentally, during this interview I allude to both of my interviews with Andrea and I will be revisiting them for future podcasts. Click 'subscribe' if you want to be notified

Soul Searching. The Backstory of The Joe Jackson Interviews. Episode 1.

This is a podcast for those people who love my interviews and those who hate them. That's why I call it Joe Jackson's Greatest Hits and Misses. I take my cue in this from the fact that I have been called as an interviewer - I elaborate on this at the start of the podcast - "the best" in print in Ireland and alternatively a "pretentious" and "boring b****x." It's all the same to me, frankly. Either way, I began to tell this backstory as a secondary thematic thread in my RTE Radio 1, series. The Joe Jackson Tapes Revisited, but there was only so far I could go in that series and on that radio station. So now, it is time for me to go full tilt on the telling of the tale of my thirty-plus years in the Irish media, working for RTE, The Sunday Independent, The Irish Times, and Hot Press. And it is time to tell the highly-detailed diary-based stories I never told about many among the 1,4000 celebrities I interviewed. 

 

Episode 1,  kicks off with what many people see as some of my screw-ups, with interviewees such as Andre Previn, Ken Russell, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Then I flashback to the first interview I did, which inspired me to become an interviewer - my 1985 interview with Leonard Cohen, which to one editor was a flop but to me was a transcendent experience. Enjoy. 

Mick Fleetwood and Joe Jackson Discuss early Fleetwood Mac and the genius of Peter Green. 1993

I am a journalist. At another point in my career I might have written for, say,  The Irish Times - I did this interview for that newspaper in 1993 - an article about the death of Peter Green who, as this clip shows, was someone whose singing and playing and songs I adored since I was in my mid-teens. So instead, because the full cassette tape of this interview is not processed for digitisation, and needs a lot of work, I want to mark Peter's passing, by sharing with fellow early Fleetwood Mac fans, the part of the chat with Mick Fleetwood where he and I discussed the early music of the band and then move on to discuss specifically Peter Green. I hadn't heard the tape until this morning July 26th 2020. I think it is a fitting tribute. 

Joe Jackson. The Music That Made Me Want To Make Music. 2000

Yes, it was fun to finally meet Joe Jackson, even if he didn't seem to get my joke about him "stealing" my name! No matter, we got on great and here he talks about his early love of classical music, Beethoven, in particular, and 60s rock, and how they all directly influenced his music. Jackson also talks about his sense of isolation growing up and hits such as, Is She Really Going out With Hi, and It's Different for Girls. I should have said in the radio show, but didn't, so I shall say it now - Look Sharp!